New York mayor promises IDs for undocumented immigrants

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Monday he will soon propose permitting the city to issue municipal identification cards to undocumented immigrants.

In his first State of the City address, de Blasio explained the
move would enable undocumented individuals to live more normal
lives – they would be allowed to open bank accounts, sign
apartment leases, receive library cards, and gain access to other
services they’re otherwise barred from without a photo ID.

At the same time, the IDs will not allow illegal immigrants to
receive any government benefits that aren’t already available to
them.

"To all of my fellow New Yorkers who are undocumented, I say:
New York City is your home too, and we will not force ANY of our
residents to live their lives in the shadows," de Blasio
said.

“We will protect the almost half-million undocumented New
Yorkers, whose voices too often go unheard,” he added.

De Blasio is expected to introduce legislation detailing the
initiative in the coming weeks.

As noted by the New York Post, multiple cities in the United
States have implemented similar programs, some of which are
already boasting of the benefits. In Fair Haven, Connecticut,
crime rates are reportedly down 20 percent in the two years since
IDs were granted, partly because immigrants were more comfortable
reporting problems to the police when they had proper
identification.

“For a diverse city like New York, the benefits will be
immense,” Steven Choi, executive director of the New York
Immigration Coalition, told the Post. “Such an ID expands
opportunities for greater civic and economic integration for all
New Yorkers.”

During his campaign to succeed former mayor Michael Bloomberg, de
Blasio campaigned heavily on the promise to shrink the city’s gap
between the poor and the wealthy. Back in May 2013, he penned an
op-ed in the New York Daily News explaining his support for
municipal IDs.

“Nationally, this country is finally waking up to the notion
that integrating undocumented immigrants into our society and
legalizing their status will make us more secure,” he wrote.
“The old argument that providing a photo ID will compromise
national security is absurd — if anything, the various checks
required to get a license and the ability to more easily identify
people who currently lack a government-issued ID will increase
our collective security.”

At the federal level, meanwhile, attempts to push immigration
reform through Congress have sputtered, even though President
Barack Obama has won two elections in part by proclaiming his
support for a comprehensive overhaul of the system. Just
recently, Obama said he’d consider signing a bill without a
special pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants if
Republicans agreed to allow them to apply for citizenship through
the normal process.

Despite the president’s comments, Speaker of the House John
Boehner (R-Ohio) recently cast doubt on the possibility of
passing reform this year.

"There is widespread doubt about whether this administration
can be trusted to enforce our laws," he said, according to
USA Today, "and it's going to be difficult to move any
immigration legislation until that changes."